Jesse Owens
1913-1980

Jesse Owens, one of eight children, was born on an Alabama farm, to share-cropper parents. The family migrated to Cleveland in the industrial trek of the war years. In time, he reached Fairmount Junior High School. Where he met Charles Riley; a one-time athlete and volunteer coach of schoolboy runners. Building a boy's track team, Riley timed Jesse in a sprint down East 167th Street, and was startled at Jesse's abilities. Riley became friend with the boy and took special delight in Jesse's interests other than running. He walked with him in the parks and talked to him about the things far more important than racing; about life. Jesse steadily climbed the ladder of fame until he broke the world's record in Berlin, Germany. He received the official Nazi Swastika from Reichfuekrer Adolph Hitler. After receiving this honor, Owens went to the radio beneath the stands where he made a brief talk and extended greetings to his folks back home in America.

"I always loved running...it was something you could do by yourself, and under your own power. You could go in any direction, fast or slow as you wanted, fighting the wind if you felt like it, seeking out new sights just on the strength of your feet and the courage of your lungs."

There is no record of a human being running faster. He hit the home stretch well in lead of the parade. Calmly, Owens glided along; no strain, no sign of exertion, but an automation moving along to fulfils his destiny. He had a two yard lead at the half-way mark, then he really began to go.
In great big letters, America wrote across the Olympic horizon in August 1936, the name Jesse Owens along with a few others in a mighty challenge for international supremacy in track and field. And Owens did not have to exert himself to capture the coveted honor. He leaped 25' 10 1/4" inches, and then sat down to wait for someone to beat his mark. Nobody did, and Owens called it a day. His world's mark is almost 11 inches better than that, which he has registered.
By winning the 200-meter dash, Jesse Owens became the fourth American to capture three or more championships in one Olympic-meet.
The Chicago defender carried an article which came from Berlin which reads: "Jesse Owens is the god of the sports fans here. He has effectively demonstrated his superiority in winning the finals in the 100 meter event in which he equaled the world's record and blasted the Olympic mark of Eddie Tolland, another race star, set back in 1932, over the 200-meter route". -Rhesus L. Perry
© 1998 Estate of Jesse Owens c/o CMG Worldwide

Reference:  www.yahoo.com
By Allen Harris